Chevrolet Presents New Cruze Hatchback

DETROIT – With sales of hatchbacks in the United States continuing to climb, Chevrolet will enter this market next fall with the Cruze Hatch, the automaker announced this morning.

Sales of hatchbacks in the United States rose 9% last year according to Alan Batey, president of Chevrolet North America, making it “the perfect time to bring the Cruze Hatch to America.

“As Cruze continues to set the tone for Chevrolet globally,”he said, “it articulates the brand promise of offering cars with the latest technologies, more features and greater efficiency, performance and safety with fresh, distinctive styling.”

Among the features on the Cruze Hatch are both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a teen driver setting that allows parents to set maximum speeds and receive feedback from the car, side blind zone alerts and lane keeping assistance. All features  available on the newly redesigned 2016 Cruze sedan are available as well on the hatchback version.

The new model  offers more storage space than the traditional Cruze with 18.5 cubic feet,  42 cubic feet when the rear seats are folded down. By comparison, the standard Cruze has 15 cubic feet with seats upright.

Under the hood, a 1.4-liter turbo, direct injection engine comes standard. The car is also available with the Cruze sedan’s LT and Premier trims.

The model will be assembled at General Motors’ Ramos Arzipe plant in Mexico. Last year, GM announced it was investing $350 million in the northern Mexican plant.

No pricing for the model was announced. More information is expected to be released during Chevrolet’s presentation at the North American International Auto Show on Monday.

The Cruze is Chevrolet’s best-selling car globally, with 3.5 million sold since 2008. In that time, Chevrolet’s  share of the sedan segment has grown to 9.4% from 5.8%.

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